


The Calm in the Storm

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Emergency Home Birth, F/M, Pregnancy, Reader-Insert, home birth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 18:07:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11236389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry. ;)





	The Calm in the Storm

This could not actually be happening. This wasn’t supposed to happen this way. “Oh fuck me,” you exclaimed, rubbing the side of your stomach in a pointless attempt to get the baby to chill for like…a day more…two days. “Please, kiddo.” 

When you looked out the window, you could see nothing but white. You were 8 and a half months pregnant and of course DC was experiencing its biggest snowstorm in nearly 20 years. No one was outside. The streets were silent. But of course government employees still had to work - at least until the storm had gotten so bad that they’d been sent home. It had been nearly two hours since Derek had called to say he’d be coming home. Nearly every fifteen minutes, he called back to let you know where he was on the road. 

Finally, after two and a half hours, you heard the doorknob turn. “Hey, baby,” he said, his face dropping as he took in the pained look on your face. “Oh no. Seriously? Right now?” The storm in his eyes mirrored the blizzard outside. 

“Baby’s not waiting,” you choked out. “I feel like someone is ripping out my insides and actually when I think about that’s exactly what’s happening. I think we need to call 911.”

Your husband was always one to keep calm, but even he couldn’t contain the fear in his eyes. Quickly, he walked over to you and placed you on the couch as he picked up the phone, leaving it on speaker. “911, what is your emergency?”

Immediately, Derek gave them your address and told them you were in labor and on speakerphone. Even the operator didn’t sound confident. Lovely. “How far along are you honey?” The woman asked.

“Eight and a half months,” you replied. “And my contractions are about five minutes apart because I know that’s what you are going to ask next.”

With a deep breath, you heard the woman strike the keys of her keyboard. “Alright, I am sending out emergency services, but I’m going to be honest with you. Derek?”

“Yes?”

“You will very likely have to deliver your own child.” The sheer panic in his eyes made your breath catch in your throat. “You’re going to stay on the phone with me and I’m gonna walk you both through it.”

“Okay…” you said shakily. The operator, who subsequently introduced herself as Talia, told your husband to grab a bunch of towels, blankets and sheets. A couple would be placed under you and the rest would be kept on standby for drying the baby off after his or her arrival. 

After grabbing towels and placing them on the floor, Derek lifted you off the couch. “We can do this,” he said with a smile. “Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.”

“Okay, Y/N,” Talia said through the phone. “We need to give the medic as much time to get there as possible, so for as long as you can, if you feel you need to push, I need you to try every method of breathing you can. Don’t push unless you absolutely, 100 percent feel you can’t wait any longer. Okay?”

“Yea,” you replied through shaky breaths. Another contraction came on and you yelled out, grabbing Derek’s arm as your stomach constricted around itself. While the contraction rolled through you, your husband removed your pajama pants and underwear, leaving you naked from the waist down. “Not exactly how I imagined this.” You laughed through the pain, because it was either that or you would cry and crying was probably not the best for the baby under these circumstances. 

Derek snorted and came to your side asking Talia if he needed sterilized scissors or a knife to cut the umbilical cord. “Actually,” she replied, in a way that remind you both of Spencer, “it’s better if you leave the cord attached to the baby and the placenta until the medics arrive. They’ll take care of it.”

Another contraction came on, even closer together than the last ones, and you panted through it until the feeling passed. That happened two more times before the third time. You had to push now - medics or not. “I can’t hold it anymore, Talia,” you warned. “I have to push.”

“Okay, Derek, I need you to stay right in front of your wife to catch the baby. If you see the umbilical cord around the baby’s neck, stay calm, you can gently lift it over their head, or loosen it enough for the baby to born. I can imagine how scary this is, but don’t panic. You’re wife and baby need you to remain calm.” She was very good at this. Maybe when this was all over you could thank her adequately. “Now, Y/N, if you’re sure you can’t stave off pushing anymore, I need you to bear down with your next contract, but don’t overexert yourself. There’s more likely to be tearing that way.”

Well, that thought was panic inducing. As the contraction came around again, you beard down, feeling the baby move ever so slightly. Derek counted for 10 seconds and then told you to breathe. Again and again, you repeated the process. “Wait,” Derek said,” I see the head but the cord is around the neck.” 

Your breath caught in your throat, but your husband took a deep breath and placed his finger in between the cord and the baby’s neck. “Okay, it’s over their head. We’re good. Also, baby, you’re amazing, I have no idea how you’re doing this.”

“Because I have to,” you chuckled softly, your breath easing out of you with the relief that your baby’s neck wasn’t being strangled anymore. “And now I have to again.” Once more, you bore down as much as you could without overexerting yourself, and within a minute, the rest of your baby slid out of your body.

“It’s a girl,” he said, grabbing her in a dry towel and wiping her off. To both of your relief, she immediately started to cry. “It’s a little girl.” Derek didn’t cry all that often, but you both looked down at her and burst into tears. Talia told you both to leave the cord alone. The placenta needed to make its way out, and she’d been keeping in touch with the medics - they would be there within a few minutes.

“Now, place your daughter on your wife’s stomach. She needs skin to skin contact.”

“Hey baby girl,” you breathed, running your fingers down the side of her nose to make sure there wasn’t anything caught in her airways. “You’re so beautiful. Mommy and Daddy love you.” A few moments later, you felt the placenta make its way out, which was even more disgusting than you’d imagined, and seconds after that, the medics arrived. They cut the cord and cleaned everything up as best they could before ensuring that both of you would be warm enough as thy transferred you to the hospital. 

With tears still in his eyes, Derek grabbed the hospital bag and followed you down the stairs. Although it was nearly 30 minutes before the ambulance made it back to the hospital, the medics were great at keeping you calm and checking you out to make sure everything was okay. There had been slight tearing apparently, but very little considering you’d given birth at home, and more importantly, your little girl was totally, 100 percent healthy. “She still needs a name,” you said to your husband as you were wheeled inside. 

The warmth of the hospital felt great as you finally got inside. Derek called everyone on the team to let them know you and the baby were okay. They all insisted they’d be there as soon as possible, despite the weather. After the doctors and nurses checked you out again, they cleared you and allowed you and Derek time alone with the baby. “What’s her name gonna be?” he asked. You’d been going back and forth for so long. 

“What about Penelope? After your original baby girl?” you asked, referring to his relationship with Garcia. They were best friends and you’d already asked her to be the godmother to your baby. 

As Derek looked down at her, he started to cry again. “Yea. Penelope Morgan.” He reached out for her and cradled her in his arms, allowing you to sleep for a couple hours before everyone arrived. You woke up to the cooing and awwing of your friends. “How are you feeling?” Emily asked. Garcia was holding her namesake a few feet away.

“I’m tired,” you said. “But I’m good. Did Derek tell you her name yet?”

“No. He was waiting for you to wake up,” Garcia said. Spencer was leaning over them and grazing his finger over the baby’s cheek. And Rossi, Hotch and JJ were nearby smiling. “What’s her name?”

“Penelope,” Derek said. Garcia’s head popped up, thinking that he was addressing her.

“Yea?” She asked. “What’s her name?”

You couldn’t help but giggle. “Garcia? Her name is Penelope.”

Garcia’s eyes glazed over with tears. “Nooooooo, really?” When you nodded, she burst out in hysterics, waving at her eyes in an attempt to keep the tears at bay. It wasn’t working. 

Little Penelope’s birth hadn’t gone at all how you’d imagined, but it was amazing nonetheless. Your family was here. You were both okay. And she was perfect.


End file.
